Republican leaders in the North Carolina General Assembly have filed multiple bills to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives from the state.
The latest, filed by Senate Leader Phil Berger, is a bill to ban DEI from public schools.
"There are instructional materials that purport to say that one race is superior to another and because someone is of a particular race, they either are oppressed or an oppressor," Berger told press on Tuesday. "I can't go through the specific examples, but the concern is that those things out there being part of either curriculum or instructional materials within our K-12 system really need to be eliminated."
The bill aligns with the federal government's objective to remove DEI from all facets of education. The Trump administration has issued several and to reach that goal, threatening to defund K-12 schools, as well as public and private universities if institutions didn't comply.
However, Republican legislators in North Carolina didn't need the threat, as they've long been trying to remove DEI from public schools.
Back in 2021, this effort took the form of House Bill 324. The proposed legislation would have prohibited schools from promoting certain concepts like "the rule of law does not exist, but instead is a series of power relationships and struggles among racial or other groups" or "the United States was created by members of a particular race or sex for the purpose of oppressing members of another race or sex."
Berger touted the bill as a protector against critical race theory.
鈥淗ouse Bill 324 sets guardrails against the most extreme forms of indoctrination, but the only enduring way to fight back against critical race theory and its presence in our schools is to shine a spotlight on it,鈥� Berger said back in 2021.
The bill passed in the General Assembly but was later vetoed by then-Governor Roy Cooper, a Democrat. The state House of Representatives , but it never made it out of the NC Senate.
Now, the new anti-DEI bill could give it a third life.
The new legislation, , keeps several of the "divisive" concept prohibitions from 2021. It also outlaws DEI offices and prohibits schools from having employees whose duties include DEI-related initiatives. Teachers would also not be allowed to participate in seminars, workshops or trainings that advocates for DEI-related concepts.
In a press gaggle on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch criticized the proposed bill, saying it was "looking for a problem that is clearly not in existence right now."
"We have schools across North Carolina that are struggling with regards to air conditioning not working 鈥� their heat not being turned on," Batch said. "We have children in Fayetteville that are still drinking bottled water because of PFAS. And yet, we want to go ahead with the education chairs, with all of the challenges that we have in North Carolina, facing a bill on DEI 鈥� rather than the challenges that will actually address public school kids across the state."
The bill passed its first hearing in the Senate Committee on Education/Higher Education on Wednesday. It now goes to the Senate Rules Committee, which has it on the agenda for Thursday morning.
The bill still has to pass in both chambers of the General Assembly and be signed by the Governor in order to become law. If it does, DEI will be banned at every level of public education in North Carolina, as the UNC Board of Governors eliminated DEI offices and jobs at public universities last year.
Republicans in the House are concurrently making moves to remove DEI from state government. House Majority Leader Brenden Jones programs, required training, and staff positions from state agencies.
It would also mandate the state auditor to conduct compliance audits, and states that if an agency employee willfully violates the policy, they could be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor. State agencies would also be prohibited from applying for grants or federal funds that require compliance with DEI policies.
瓜神app politics reporter Colin Campbell contributed to this report.
